Another allegation has been raised against leading presidential candidate Moon Jae-in that he peddled influence to help Roh Moo-hyun’s in-law while serving under then-President Roh as senior secretary for civil affairs.
Local daily Munhwa Ilbo reported Wednesday that Moon is suspected of concealing, or condoning his office’s efforts to conceal, a drunk-driving accident of the father of Roh’s daughter-in-law, Bae Byung-ryeol.
Citing a Cheong Wa Dae document, the report said police had not measured Bae’s blood alcohol level despite the smell of liquor and concluded the matter was a simple collision between two passenger cars in April 2003. Bae’s drunk driving was later revealed via a police reinvestigation of the case.
The report alleged that an official from the civil affairs office sought to silence the other driver in an alleged bid to block the case from being publicized.
When other news outlets initially raised the issue of Roh’s in-law’s irregularity in 2006, Moon reportedly put the blame on the other driver. Moon at that time claimed the driver demanded excessive compensation after being acquainted with Bae’s personal background. Moon also denied the allegation of covering up the accident.
This time, Munhwa obtained an official document that shows his office’s alleged cover-up.
Regarding the document, a spokesman for Moon was quoted by the daily as saying that “there was a feasibility that the sort of case (caught by the civil affairs office) was not reported to the senior secretary at that time.”
Meanwhile, Moon has yet to make a clear statement over suspicions of his son’s former employment at a state-funded company.
kys@heraldcorp.com
